Russians sponsor Space Patrol, a holiday operating event

ARISS Russian team member Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, announced this week that his team and the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos/Energia are sponsoring a Russian space related on-the-air operating event on the 25th and 26th of
December. The organization gave the name Space Patrol to the operating event, and activity will be both space-based and ground-based.

On both December 25 and 26, the expectation is that ground-based ham radio operations will begin at 1200 UTC, and activity will continue as long as hams are participating. The HF frequencies that hams should monitor on both days are 7.080 MHz (transmit Russia 7.08/7.09 and receive 7.290), 14.180 MHz or 14.290 and 21.280 MHz or 21.390.

For the 25th, hams and cosmonauts will operate HF radios. They will use the call sign R3K at the Korolev-based station near Moscow in the Rocket and Space Corporation, Energia, and RK3DZB at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center ham shack in Star City near Moscow, RK3DZB. Some of the cosmonauts who plan to be at the microphone are Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR; Yuri Usachev, RW3FU; and Alexander Kaleri, U8MIR.

They will likely operate the HF frequencies again on the 26th, however, only from the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, with the RK3DZB call sign.

Moscow scheduled special pass times for International Space Station Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev, operating RS0ISS, to take part from space. While the ISS passes over western and eastern Europe, he will use 145.99 MHz simplex, with 145.55 MHz simplex as a back-up. The special pass days and times are December 25 at 2056 UTC, and December 26 at 1947 UTC. Western Europeans should listen 10 minutes prior.

The special Russian on-the-air activity commemorates the first anniversary since the death of Cosmonaut Gennady Strekalev, U6MIR. Hams who take part in Space Patrol can send for a diploma along with a commemorative QSL cards;
details for this will be forthcoming.

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